Elizabeth Tower’s blog

Three explicitly racist remarks...Where did they come from? A hate group? An angry racist? Nope, just one of the most popular video games, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City. The Grand Theft Auto video game series continually shows racial stereotypes. In Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas an African American gang member from California avenges his mother's murder by killing members of rival gangs. Kansas State University psychologist John Murray, who's studied violence and stereotypes in the media for the past 30 years states:

"If blacks are always portrayed as the villains, or as the victims who get killed often and easily, that is code for powerlessness.One of the messages you pick up from these games is who is powerless and who can be victimized."

The victims and villains in these games are mostly minorities, while the heroes are predominantly white. What message is this sending out to the generations of children spending several hours everyday playing these games? Although this can all seem very discouraging there are groups trying to work against this problem. Children NOW encourages video game developers to ask themselves whether their products create or exploit stereotypes and whether the content of their games is meaningful to children. Hopefully their messages will be heard and these situations can start to change.

Video Games Encourage Racism

DIVERSITY RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
1) You are the starting point for making inclusion work, not the other person
2) Conflict comes in the middle of the story—don’t leave in the middle
3) Sometimes truth lies in anger, so listen to what’s beyond heated words
4) Pain comes in different flavors. Don’t dismiss what you haven’t tasted
5) Just because you haven’t experienced it, does not mean it is not real
6) Privilege is variable. Recognize when you have it, and use it wisely
7) You can’t change the past, but you can make decisions in the present that can alter the negative effects of the past
8) We all stand on the shoulders of others when we are successful. Telling everyone’s history shares the debt and the glory
9) Break the silence, and object to the objectionable
10) Imagine new possibilities because you can!

When I was reading these rules most reminded me of different experiences from this semester and how things went as they should and other things that I or the class as a whole could have done differently.  In rule three concerning that "sometimes truth lies in anger," we often found "heated words" as each person came to their own personal truths. We had a class full of different races, religions and cultural backgrounds, so obviously there was rarely one right answer. I feel that everyone tried to understand the different sides of each situations, but there are some times when it seems impossible to do so. When religious beliefs clash with someones sexual orientation there is often little that can be done to change the minds of either person involved. So with that there is one rule I would like to add: There are some things you won't truly be able to understand. There are things you can't experience like someone else could.

Diveristy Defined

Miley Photos and Vanity Fair article

One picture, one back exposed on television and music star, 15-year-old, Miley Cyrus has become huge news. National news coverage includes the New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Newsweek, the story has also been featured in other newspapers throughout the world, including The Times and The Guardian of London, The Globe and Mail of Toronto and the Herald Sun in Melbourne, Australia. The photos, taken by celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz, include an image of the 15-year-old Hannah Montana star clutching a sheet with her bare shoulders and upper back expo

sed. Cyrus, who has apologized to her fans for the photo, said in a statement she "took part in a photo shoot that was supposed to be 'artistic.'" Leibovitz says she and Cyrus discussed plans for the photo before she shot it, adding she is sorry the portrait "has been misinterpreted."  The amount exposed in the picture is no more than would be shown in the average bikini, which is not a "shocking" thing for a 15-year-old to wear.  When there are so many more important things to discuss in current media, why has this gained so much attention. Why should anyone else except Miss Cyrus and her parents have a say on what she should or should not do?

In today's society the roles of each gender are slowly but surely changing.  With both men and women in the workplace the roles of breadwinner and child caregiver are shared.  The lines that once separated men and women has been continually blurred. We currently live in a society where women have become Presidents and top CEO's of corporate America and men have specialized spas and beauty products. Fifty years ago people would have probably thought these two scenarios as being just a joke. Along with the overwhelming progress both genders have made in breaking down stereotypes and societal norms each gender has gained expectations in their duties.  Women have had to break past barriers to show their strength in the workplace, while still fulfilling the role of the family matriarch.  Men have had to prove their worth in the home more than past generations in both household chores and child rearing. This great change in gender roles over the last century is an amazing feat for both men and women, but there is still much room for growth in change.  It is hard to say where society will be a century from now, but hopefully men and women will continue to show that the roles in homes and the workplace can be shared and done well.